My second build : Pinup. Finished. Now with plans.

[yamatetsu]

Frankly, I'm quite fed up with experimenting right now. I'll sand down the marquee and try again.

To make things more interesting, another problem has come up. I have stained the front piece (custom made by a carpenter), it looks gorgeous. Since it's going to have a checker board pattern done in a darker stain at the bottom, I masked the pattern off and applied the stain. Which didn't work. The stain looks to be almost black, but when applied to the lighter stain, if becomes a light grey, if it sticks at all. In some places, it became almost pitch black. So there is no way to get an even finish and unless I find a way to completely remove the stain, a custom made piece of wood is ruined.

I will try now applying the dark stain first, then putting the light stain on top of it (this time on a test piece). Hopefully the dark areas will be sated to the point that the lighter stain doesn't do anything to them. If this also fails, I will be forced to use a combination of stain and paint, which is something I want to avoid.

[PL1]

If you really want to go overboard, build a Mostly Printed CNC with a laser.   




Scott

[yamatetsu]

Now that seems like an easy-to-do, affordable home solution. But I would build it using a laser that can switch the color of it's light beam, so that the pic is in color. I also wonder if one could turn up the laser's power several notches so that while doing the picture the cabinet side is lasered out, too.
'My cabinet has been CNC'ed.' 'Bah, mine has been lasered.'

[PL1]

I would build it using a laser that can switch the color of it's light beam, so that the pic is in color.

Yeah . . . that's not a thing.   

I also wonder if one could turn up the laser's power several notches so that while doing the picture the cabinet side is lasered out, too.
'My cabinet has been CNC'ed.' 'Bah, mine has been lasered.'

You'll need a WAY more powerful laser for that, but you can do a micro build with a 2.8W laser.
https://jtechphotonics.com/?page_id=1177

The 2.8W laser is just powerful enough to get through some thin plywood.  Customers have demonstrated cutting up to 3mm ply sheets, but you might be doing a lot of passes to get through it.

Bonus round: Looks like at least one arcade fan has been playing with laser-engraving leather.   



Scott

[yamatetsu]

Staining round two.

I have finished the test piece that I only stained with a dark stain checker board pattern. The result is truly beautiful. That stuff bleeds like heck despite using my trusty frog tape.



This is my once beautiful front piece.



So screw this staining stuff for the outlines & patterns, I'm going with paint now.

[Buick455]

Just thought of this..
https://www.amazon.com/Minwax-32716-11-5-Ounce-Finish-Aerosol/dp/B0009XB4LW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466856022&sr=8-2&keywords=interior+wood+stain+spray

Maybe in thin coats it wont bleed as much under the masking.

[yamatetsu]

This seems to be a kind of stain. I figure that if my wood is saturated, chances are good that it won't take this stuff either. I'll do a test piece using paint to see if that works better.

[JDFan]

This seems to be a kind of stain. I figure that if my wood is saturated, chances are good that it won't take this stuff either. I'll do a test piece using paint to see if that works better.

Were you around when LT did his Mario Pedestal ?? Could always do the checkerboard pattern outline like he did with the blocks (or dremel out one of the colors of squares to give it a 3d look) and then either paint or stain between the cuts.

Only pic I could find since LT took down all his posts

[yamatetsu]

This worked on LT's pedestal because he didn't color the squares and because he used a black marker to color the grooves. Had he done that using paint, he would have had to mask the squares.

When staining, you have to use more stain than you need, let it dry a bit, and then wipe the excess off. You can't do that with pinpoint accuracy. So even if you do a groove to separate the squares, you'd still have to prevent the stain from spilling into the groove. If you stain the groove too, the stain mustn't get on the 'white' squares, so you'd have to mask those.

When cutting the squares out, I deliberately used more pressure than necessary to create a cut into the wood. I hoped that that would prevent the bleeding, but it didn't. If you look at the picture of the front piece, you'll notice that every square has a black outline, that's from the cuts. But the stain still managed to overcome them 

[leapinlew]

You could cut small squares out, stain them, and then glue them on.

[yamatetsu]

You could cut small squares out, stain them, and then glue them on.

Cut them out of what ? Also keep in mind that it's not just a few squares, you'd have to cut out every dark outline perfectly and then align and glue them perfectly, too. Come to think of it, the front piece and the control panel have rounded edges which also have to be colored.

[JDFan]

Could you do the checker board pattern using the same method as you are using for the pinups

[yamatetsu]

Could you do the checker board pattern using the same method as you are using for the pinups

Theoretically yes. But since I'm limited to A4 prints, I couldn't do the outlines and probably not even the bigger checker board pattern on the sides.
I will use paint and frog tape. It took me more than 6 months to get the paint job right on my last build, but at least now I have a lot of practice 

[leapinlew]

You could cut small squares out, stain them, and then glue them on.

Cut them out of what ?

I don't know... maybe use a 1" square dowel rod, put up a jig and cut them on a chop saw? I don't think it would be hard. You'd just have to decide if you wanted a 3d affect or not.

[yamatetsu]

I don't know... maybe use a 1" square dowel rod, put up a jig and cut them on a chop saw?

No chop saws here. The only saw available is a jigsaw, which isn't really suited to that kind of cutting. Also, I'd still have no means of doing the outlines.

[yamatetsu]

Update. I did the picture on the left side today. The transfer went pretty well, except for some splotches that appeared out of nowhere.



Here she is masked off, waiting for the clear lacquer coat. Cutting out those small areas between the chair legs and then doubletaping them accurately to the wood was a ---smurfette--- to do, but it worked.



This is how the left side looks now. Now I have to wait for the lacquer to dry and then it's off to the staining again.

[ppv]

Impressive, detailed work! 

[Jakobud]

One of the most interesting and original cabinet shapes I've seen.

[yamatetsu]

One of the most interesting and original cabinet shapes I've seen.

Kudos to whoever has designed that. I like it so much that I simply had to build it, even though I have no space for it.

Update

I did the two remaining ladies today. The photos suck, a single bulb in the basement doesn't make the best lighting. The camera doesn't do the colors justice. Or maybe my perception of the colors differs vastly from that of the cam. Who knows.

Anyway, this is the lady on the right side :



And the marquee :



This one I'm a bit worried about, she doesn't stand out that much and might get lost in the stain.

[BigCurtis]

To the checker pattern, you can spend a lifetime trying to stain adjacent squares different colors with pristine edges and never succeed, the nature of wood & stain specifically uses the absorptive nature of wood to pull and hold stain. Someone else mentioned cutting out squares - and that's the only way to go. However, I wouldn't try and build such a thing witth wood lumber, I would use a thin wood veneer (ex: http://www.woodcraft.com/product/131534/walnut-veneer-2-x-8-10-mil.aspx ) in the colors you desire, and then assemble any pattern, cut any racing stripes, etc. and glue to the plywood. How many of the cheap wood chessboards are made.

Good intro to veneering:
http://www.rockler.com/how-to/introduction-veneering/

[Generic Eric]

Thank you for sharing.  I can't say I've seen this style cabinet.  Where does it come from?  Does anyone have a flyer of an original game using this?

Either way, its super neat and I would enjoy knowing the dimensions and more specifically the degrees used to make the arc.

[yamatetsu]

However, I wouldn't try and build such a thing witth wood lumber, I would use a thin wood veneer (ex: http://www.woodcraft.com/product/131534/walnut-veneer-2-x-8-10-mil.aspx ) in the colors you desire, and then assemble any pattern, cut any racing stripes, etc.

Cool idea, but probably a bit too costly. I would need two sheets of 116cm x 68cm (45.67 in x 22.77 in) to do the outlines. From what I've found online, that would cost up to double of the cost for the ply, which wasn't cheap. Also the width seems to be awkward, so I might have to buy two very large sheets and end up with much of the stuff unused. This is versus the black paint which I have left over from my last build and which IMHO would be far easier to use. I think the paint wins.

Thank you for sharing.  I can't say I've seen this style cabinet.  Where does it come from?  Does anyone have a flyer of an original game using this?

Either way, its super neat and I would enjoy knowing the dimensions and more specifically the degrees used to make the arc.

I have found the cab on this spanish website : https://miniarcades.wordpress.com/category/arcade-vertical/. From what I (or rather Google translator) understand, they seem to sell those cabs custom-made. Here is a small gallery of cabs they built : https://miniarcades.wordpress.com/category/galeria-vertical/

The original dimensions are height 115cm, width 55cm, depth 60cm. Mine are 116cm x 50 cm x 68cm since I'm using a 20" monitor vertically versus the original 17" one. I'm pretty much winging it by using a real-size cardboard mockup of one cabinet side to put pieces of wood onto and then getting the dimensions.

As for the arc : I can't give you the degrees for that, I did a full scale cab side in CorelDraw, once I had determined at which height the marquee would sit I used the '3 point curve' function to make the arcs. I just clicked on the start and the end point and then moved the mouse around until the arc seemed right.
I can make a pic showing the dimensions, but it would probably be wise to wait until I have finished the cab, because I have no way of knowing if they are correct until I have assembled it.

[yamatetsu]

I have been busy staining.

The right side stained (color is, as always, way off ) :



The marquee :



And the control panel :

[yamatetsu]

The back panel.

To drill the ventilation holes, I printed a template and then used this fellow

to punch pilot holes into the wood. Then I put transparent tape over the holes to prevent splintering.

A close-up :



The backside, no tape used :



This is how the bottom and the top of the back panel will look like :



And finally a good idea which I should have thought of while staining the control panel :



When I stained the control panel, I had the excess stain running down the holes and dripping on the table. This time, I taped the underside of the holes to prevent this.


I had a slight problem concerning the back panel's width, it came out 5 mm too narrow. So I took a piece of wood 5 mm deep and used my jigsaw like a band saw to cut it to size. I glued it to the back panel. You can see where I glued it, I hope it will be less noticeable once I have stained it. It sure beats having a 2.5 mm gap on each side.

[yamatetsu]

The base.

I made the base today. Nothing special, just a piece of MDF and a few battens.



Then I took this,



cut it up



and screwed the wheels to the base.




The front panel.

The front panel is a piece of 12mm MDF onto which I doubletaped a piece of black acrylic. The speakers go behind the front panel, so I made a template for the speaker 'grill', put it onto the front panel and drilled the holes.



Since the speakers can't be mounted flush to the board, I took a small board that I had lying around and cut two crappy holes into it. Then I glued it to the back of the front panel.



Here is a mock-up of what the front panel is going to look like. The protective stuff is still on, so when finished the acrylic will look really shiny (and soon thereafter really dusty, too).

[yamatetsu]

Small progress. I tested the clear stuff that I'm going to use to protect the cab on the board that will connect the marquee and the front panel. It worked. Somewhat belatedly I decided that the power button and an USB port will go into that board instead of into the back panel, so I drilled the holes and put them in.



I also tested whether the black paint looks ok on the stain. It does. Other than that, I had fun watching the stain dry.
Come tomorrow, I may begin doing the outlines and the checker board pattern on the cab's left side.

[yamatetsu]

Painting the left side panel.

Since I didn't want to use a ruler and play connect-the-dots to mask off the outlines, I came up with this : The shape tracing device.



It works similar to a router's copy bit. It uses two wheels (old inline skate bearings) that are pushed against the panel's edge and thus follow it. The pencil is
dragged along and creates the outline on the masking tape.



On the top there a couple of holes, each of which is used for doing it's own outline.



This is the left side panel masked.



A zoom. You can see that the shape tracing device does it's job well.



Everything masked off / checker board pattern done.



First coat of paint.



This took about four hours. Can't wait to do the right side panel.

[yamatetsu]

Some finished pieces. These are stained and have 3 coats of clear protective stuff. The colors are washed out thanks to the camera.

This is the front piece. At the top you can see what is left of the damage I did with the dark stain attempt. Since this is going to be in a place where you won't see it unless you specifically look for it, it can live with it.



The marquee.



The CP.



The left side. This pic was obviously taken outside, the colors are much closer to reality in this.



And finally a shot for yotsuya. It's a bit crude, but you get the drift.

[yamatetsu]

I couldn't resist, I just had to take better pics of the CP, front piece & marquee.

[ppv]

This will be a unique piece!  Kudos on following you vision! Can't wait to see it completed.

[yamatetsu]

Kudos on following you vision! Can't wait to see it completed.

For me, that's the cool thing about building, having a picture in my mind and making it a reality. It's coming along nicely so far, but I still have two scary things to do, namely a) cutting the exact shape of the monitor screen out of a board+a layer of acrylic with a jigsaw and b) ironing on edge banding and cutting the excess off without damaging the cab. a) is very tricky to do, b) I have never done before.

There is still some painting to be done, which will take at least a week or so. It's a bit maddening doing three clear coats on one day, then having to wait three days for the stuff to cure. I have to clearcoat the insides of the cab's sides, since I lack the space to do two boards at once, this will take 7-8 days. So while I can't wait to put the thing together, a bit of patience is required.

[yamatetsu]

The right side is finished.



The bezel / monitor board.

For the bezel / monitor board I took a piece of MDF and taped a sheet of black acrylic onto it. I made a template for the monitor screen and transferred it onto the acrylic. I used a jigsaw to cut it out. It came out fairly nice.





I put in onto the monitor, aaand ... it's too big  Instead of cutting the line I should have cut inside it. So I have to fix that.

[yamatetsu]

Small update. Since the bezel turned out too big, I can't use it to cover the silver parts of the monitor. There is a small gap between the screen and the monitor casing, I didn't want to risk getting paint in there, so I decided to use tape. It turned out ok.





The bezel will cover most of that stuff, so it hopefully will not stand out too much.

[sealcouch]

Can't wait to see this come to fruition. I love weird shaped cabinets.

[yamatetsu]

Can't wait to see this come to fruition.

Me, too. Right now I'm doing the last protective clearcoats, then it's 3 days waiting for that stuff to cure. My goal is to begin assembly next weekend.

[harveybirdman]

The paint job was very well executed yam, sort of wish you used a  medium dark grey but it still epic.

[yotsuya]

The striping and checks look great,  but if I'm being honest,  I don't care for the pinups. They just look too faded in comparison to the rest of the cab.

[yamatetsu]

The paint job was very well executed yam, sort of wish you used a  medium dark grey but it still epic.

  I was bummed at first that I had to use the paint because it sure is darker than the dark stain would have been (though not by much), but it is a nice contrast to the wood color and will blend in with the black edge-banding and the black acrylic. It's a shame that I will butcher it when trying to trim the edge-banding.

The striping and checks look great,  but if I'm being honest,  I don't care for the pinups. They just look too faded in comparison to the rest of the cab.

I think the pinups turned out pretty good, they are seamlessly integrated into the wood, they look like they belong there. They may look a bit faded in comparison to the black paint, but I like the contrast. So, if you dislike the pinups but do like the rest of the cab, it's at least a partial success 

[yotsuya]

The paint job was very well executed yam, sort of wish you used a  medium dark grey but it still epic.

  I was bummed at first that I had to use the paint because it sure is darker than the dark stain would have been (though not by much), but it is a nice contrast to the wood color and will blend in with the black edge-banding and the black acrylic. It's a shame that I will butcher it when trying to trim the edge-banding.

The striping and checks look great,  but if I'm being honest,  I don't care for the pinups. They just look too faded in comparison to the rest of the cab.

I think the pinups turned out pretty good, they are seamlessly integrated into the wood, they look like they belong there. They may look a bit faded in comparison to the black paint, but I like the contrast. So, if you dislike the pinups but do like the rest of the cab, it's at least a partial success 

Yeah, I don't want it to sound like I don't like the cab. The lines and check look really sharp. It just appears to clash with the faded look of the pinups. But if you're happy with it...

Now that the cab is seemingly done, let's see under the hood!

[harveybirdman]

---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- he went from render to actuality in just a few weeks I'm super impressed.